McCullough fighting for one last opportunity

Slipping almost under the radar, Wayne McCullough returns to the King's Hall in Belfast on Saturday, when he faces Kiko Martinez, the exciting 21-year-old Spaniard who won the European super-bantamweight title in Dublin in September by stopping Bernard Dunne in one round. McCullough has been out of the ring for two-and-a-half years and at 37 this is realistically his last chance to make it back to the top.

But since he last boxed, when he was pulled out by his corner after ten rounds when challenging Oscar Larios for the WBC super-bantamweight title, he has had plenty of frustrations when it came to getting another opportunity.

"In June 2006, I was supposed to face Jorge Linares [now the WBC featherweight champion], but that was called off a week before," McCullough told me this week. "I'd done all my work, was ready to go and I didn't get paid. I was then supposed to face Steve Molitor [the IBF champion], but that fell through.

"That was the time when I said to Cheryl [his wife and manager], 'maybe that's it'. I didn't want to carry on if I was only going to get used. Then Bernard got beaten and my phone started ringing."

In fact he was in the unusual position of turning a bout down. "I was supposed to be boxing in St Lucia last week, but when this came up I told Dan Goossen [the promoter] and he said 'go for it'," he said.

McCullough has never lost outside a world-title challenge. That he has lost six times shows how many challenges he has had since weight issues forced him to give up his WBC bantamweight title. But it also shows his perseverance, particularly since his other long layoff after a failed brain scan in 2000. Tests soon showed that he was at no greater risk than any other boxer, although it took him nearly three years to get his licence back.

A win over Martinez could, once again, put McCullough in the world-title picture, although he first has the thrill of topping the bill as the spiritual home of Irish boxing. He has boxed there once before, 12 years ago, when he stopped Johnny Bredahl in eight rounds in the first defence of his world title.

"Mine was the last major world title fight at the King's Hall," he said. "I never got to see McGuigan there, because I couldn't afford it, but I was there when Dave McAuley fought Fidel Bassa. My brother [Alan] was on the undercard and I worked his corner. It's got an incredible atmosphere. When I boxed there, I couldn't even hear the music as I walked to the ring. It's odd because you recognise people as you walk to the ring.

"I never boxed for the European title and it would have been nice if this had been for the belt, although I think it's the fighter that makes the title these days. The NABF was my first belt and then I boxed for the world title.

"When I was growing up, the British title was the big one. Davy Larmour [British bantamweight champion in the Eighties] was my amateur trainer and I remember him showing us the [Lonsdale] belt.   Martinez is ranked no 9 by The Ring, so a win would put me right back up there.

"The one I want is Israel Vazquez [the Mexican WBC champion]. He is due to face Rafael Marquez for the third time in about March, so the winner would then not be fighting until June or July. That would give me time to have two or three more fights."

McCullough was last seen in the UK when he was briefly training Alex Arthur. Training is something he says he is likely to continue when his days in the ring are finally over.

"I love training fighters, I got that from my trainer, Eddie Futch," he said. "I've trained about five guys in two years, but I've had bad experiences of it too. One guy, instead of paying me 10 percent, paid me 2 percent then cleared off. I always paid my trainers properly."